Automation for goods and services has reached record levels in society. Examples are everywhere from online banking and purchasing to a wide-range of devices and physical appliances that include computing and networking capabilities, which were just wishful dreams only a decade ago. For the most part, these advances have occurred because of breakthroughs in electronics and wireless communications, which have allowed complex processing and network connectivity to be achieved in the smallest of physical devices, such as a smart phone or other handheld computing devices, for relatively small cost and effort.
One business process that has not advanced to any significant degree is waiting on guests in the full-service restaurant industry. True, consumers can pre-order online, make reservations online, view menus online, and the like; but, the onsite physical experience associated with the meal has not advanced to any significant degree.
One area that experiences frequent issues within the restaurant industry is associated with opening and retrieving a customer's check. Opening or retrieving a check using a touch screen user interface on a handheld computer is often slower than optimal, particularly when attempting to engage guests in eye contact and conversation. The process is also inherently error prone, as the manual entry of the table number can result in the accidental assignment of certain order actions to the wrong table or check; thereby, creating downstream operational problems and customer satisfaction issues.
Another issue associated with the restaurant industry is related to the process of transferring responsibility for a guest check between employees of the restaurant. Specifically, transferring a restaurant guest check from one waiter's responsibility to another waiter's responsibility is often required in modern restaurants in order for restaurant staff to care for guests as best as possible while retaining proper financial controls. Guest check transfers, however, have traditionally been multi-step processes requiring that each of at least two waiters log into a Point Of Sale (POS) system in a specific sequence; each then conducting actions related to the initiation and receipt of the check being transferred prior to the receiving waiter being able to take any actions on the transferred check. In a busy restaurant that uses only fixed-position POS terminals, this can be a cumbersome and time-consuming process requiring both waiters to engage in the process together, first finding an available POS terminal on which to conduct their respective activities in sequence. Handheld computers can simplify this process somewhat, often eliminating the need to find an available POS terminal since either one or both of the initiating and receiving waiters is in possession of his/her own handheld computer at the outset of the transfer process. Even in these cases, however, existing solutions still require that both waiters engage in multiple, explicit, and manual steps in the user interfaces of the available computer or computers to complete the transfer process.